Release Date: 24 April 2026
Song Count: 17
Duration: 47 minutes, 37 seconds
Rating: 7.3/10
Description:
Song Count: 17
Duration: 47 minutes, 37 seconds
Rating: 7.3/10
Description:
A bit of an out there pick for today, but given the recent news of the tragic passing of Oliver Tree just two days ago as of writing from a helicopter crash, I figured listening to his last batch of music and giving him a mention here would be appropriate. The Santa Cruz-born singer was known to be a colourful personality in music who used his distinctive and youthful voice to the fullest in his alternative pop pieces, some of which gained traction earlier in the decade through social media and short-form content platforms. Love You Madly Hate You Badly is the fourth full-length album under his name and the final one to be released in his lifetime, shy of two months back in April of this year, and follows along on the kind of music he has been famous for making throughout his career.
Singing of fake friends, frustration with the world, depression and going through complicated phases in one's dynamic with a close person, Tree shouts out his simplistic yet passionately delivered lyricism atop a set of cleanly produced pop tunes. Accompanying his stylised vocals coated with electric distortion are equally electrifying backdrops with heavy contrasts in sonic depth and weight, combining together into storming and high energy tracks that seemingly charge through by using the subject matters as fuel and fodder. Though carrying a consistent execution of a ticket to winning for song building in most tracks, occasional alternations, especially with the highly experimental track "Crazy", do rear their heads and shake things up significantly as well.
Previously often criticised for some of his more popular bits of music, Oliver Tree has nevertheless held a firm grasp onto what made him unique as a pop musician the whole way through until the very end. As such, his last album also proves to be a worthwhile sendoff and a successful sum-up of his music at its most polished and refined over time. Individual tracks like "Death Ray", "Deep End" and "Someone Else" in particular struck out at me as ones worth re-whirls, however the package as a whole solidly holds its own with rare dips in enjoyment. As such plays out the wrap-up to the discography of a truly unique individual in the mainstream music industry - provided there are no posthumous releases upcoming, which is certainly not an option I shall look past.
Rest in peace, Oliver Tree Nickell, and thank you for the music.